3 Game-Changing Tips For Better Air Fryer Chicken Wings

Craving chicken wings this week, like our crispy baked chicken wings recipe or our air fryer lemon pepper wings recipe? Are you also itching to use your air fryer to make them instead of frying them or cranking up the oven? Before you make your next batch of air fryer chicken wings, we have three game-changing tips for you to make the dish restaurant-worthy. These tips come from Rachel Kirk, a recipe developer for Laughing Spatula.

It turns out that there's a secret ingredient that you can add to your chicken wings to make them extra crispy while keeping them juicy on the inside. Then, Kirk has a tip for you on the perfect amount of sauce and seasoning for the best air fryer chicken wings. And finally, she ends with the best temperature and cook time and whether or not you need to rotate the wings in the air fryer while they're cooking.

Kirk's first tip for better air fryer chicken wings involves an ingredient you probably already have in your pantry: baking powder. This is actually our pick for an overlooked ingredient that makes the crispiest wings too. She elaborated, "The trick to perfect juicy, crispy wings is baking powder! It removes the moisture from the skin, resulting in a juicy interior with a crispy skin finish."

Additionally, baking powder is alkaline, or basic. Sprinkling it on top of chicken skin raises the pH level of the skin, which helps with browning during the cooking process. You also get some gases, which create air bubbles and pockets of crispiness over the chicken skin as it cooks up in the air fryer. And if you don't have baking powder at home, you can also try Kirk's trick with a dash of baking soda.

When asked if there are any tips we should keep in mind in terms of how to season or sauce the wings before and after air frying them, Kirk suggested, "Keep it simple. You want to taste the chicken, the skin, and the juicy. ... Don't drown chicken wings in sauce (unless you accidentally burn them, then more sauce is a great idea!)." Adding too much sauce to your wings also makes it harder for the skin to become crispy in the air fryer. The extra moisture needs to evaporate or cook off before the heat can get to the chicken skin. 

However, as Kirk pointed out, if you overcook or burn the wings in the air fryer, then by all means, drench them in sauce after they come out of the appliance. We've ranked 15 store-bought wing sauces — if you love wings with a little heat, you can't go wrong with Cholula caliente wing sauce, which topped our list as the best store-bought wing sauce.

Lastly, Kirk suggested a temperature trick for crispy wings in the air fryer. She recommended setting your air fryer's temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and cooking the wings for 10 minutes on both sides. This way, your wings are thoroughly cooked and both sides and the skin crisps up nicely. She added, "Rotating the wings cooks them on both sides evenly." Do your rotation at the 10-minute mark.

Finally, if you're going to make a large portion of wings this week, consider the rule you must follow for air frying big batches of chicken wings: avoid overlapping them in the air fryer and consider air frying smaller batches at a time. With all these great tips, you will be making better air fryer chicken wings, ones that could even rival the dishes at restaurants. Your wings will be tender and juicy on the inside, and perfectly crispy on the outside. Then, dip into the perfect amount of sauce, or just savor all of the chicken goodness, and be prepared to lick your fingers and plate.